Saffire

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The latest recording by the Australian Guitar Quartet -
otherwise known as Saffire - is called Nostalgica. But
there's nothing backwards-looking about this remarkable foursome.
True, the quartet's Melbourne program at the end of a tour,
included two Celtic pieces, two Danzas Espanolas by Granados and a
handful of Bartok's Romanian Folk Dances. But the contemporary
arrangements lent each piece a freshness and vitality.

The synchronicity of Saffire's ensemble work is awe-inspiring,
but there is no invisible metronome binding the music to an
unyielding rhythm. Instead, there's a kind of magnetic force-field
that allows the phrases to breathe and the musicians to follow one
another's lead without losing energy or momentum.

Dance was a recurring musical motif - from the slow, seductive
tango pull of Piazzolla's Romance del Diablo to the
utterly irresistible, Irish lilt in American Wake. And the
theme from Riverdance (ingeniously arranged by Field)
somehow conjured an entire troupe of hard-shoe dancers and drummers
from a compelling combination of classical, steel-string and octave
guitars.

But perhaps the most memorable work was Nigel Westlake's Six
Fish suite, performed under a shimmering blue light that
echoed the sea-like imagery within the music. Gleaming arpeggios -
executed in perfect tandem by Schaupp and Grigoryan - became
musical metaphors for the movement of fish through the ocean,
drifting in the current before changing direction with the flick of
a tail.

Spangled Emperor was buoyed by gentle bubbles that
emerged from Field's guitar, while Koch's dobro became a plaintive
whale call in Leafy Sea Dragon.

And the Flying Fish in the final piece leapt from the
water with swaggering bravado, slithering across the waves as the
music built to a crescendo of white-capped riffs.